Team GEOSTOR

I hope that CO₂ storage under the floor of the North Sea can help solve the climate problem. To do this, however, it must be ensured that the CO₂ actually remains in the storage formations and is not released back into the atmosphere. To solve the climate problem, Germany must stop emitting CO₂ by 2045 at the latest. This can only be achieved if CO₂ emissions that cannot be avoided are offset by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. This CO₂ can then be put back into geological formations and stored. This is another reason why it is important to investigate whether and to what extent CO₂ can be stored beneath the floor of the North Sea.

Unfortunately, the geosciences are partly responsible for the climate problem, as they have helped to find and develop deposits of coal, oil and natural gas. As a geoscientist, I would be happy if we could apply our know-how to help solve the problem with the help of CCS technology.

Nevertheless, no industrial-scale CO₂ storage facility is in operation in Germany to date. The legal framework for the exploration and monitoring of CO₂ storage facilities in Germany is specified by the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act. However, requirements for storage facilities or their monitoring are not specified in detail. Here, I investigate the question of which geotechnical options and concepts for the exploration and monitoring of storage facilities could meet the legal requirements and thereby satisfy both climate protection and the protection of the marine environment.

In GEOSTOR, I am investigating potential impacts of CO2 storage in the German North Sea sector on existing and future uses and functions of the marine space. Together with the other GEOSTOR partners, I will try to develop strategies for resolving identified potential conflicts of use. In addition, we want to propose  how to include CO2 storage and also other (future) uses of the deep subsurface under the North Sea,  in maritime spatial planning.

With the results from GEOSTOR, I would like to facilitate  comparing and evaluating opportunities and risks associated with different options for reducing CO2 emissions. In doing so, I would like to support a fact-based, society-wide discussion on how to achieve our national emission reduction targets.

In the Geohydromodeling group at CAU Kiel, we develop and apply numerical simulation programs to model the flow and transport processes involved.

Within the framework of GEOSTOR I am mainly interested in the determination of the dynamically achievable storage capacities in the offshore area of the German North Sea, as well as in the induced hydraulic effects and their spatial impact. Thereby I would like to contribute to an improved determination of storage capacities for CO₂.

In the GEOSTOR project, I am investigating subsurface storage using numerical simulation techniques. Taking into account the physical properties of CO₂ and the specific nature of the geological trap, my numerical analysis enables the determination of achievable dynamic storage capacity, optimal injection strategies, induced hydraulic far-field effects, subsurface space requirements, and field-scale monitoring facilities.

Once I have clarified the technical issues with my team, we estimate the costs for this logistics chain, because CO2 storage is only acceptable if it is associated with reasonable costs.

I would be very pleased if the engineers at Fichtner could make a contribution to reducing CO2 from the atmosphere or improving methods for avoiding CO2 from industrial processes. For this reason, we have also been working intensively for a long time on the efficient generation of electricity from photovoltaics, wind energy and on hydrogen production based on these renewable energies.

I recreate the seafloor on a small scale in the lab and can then use measuring instruments for observation that only work in the lab on land.

My measurement methods give me a much more detailed picture of what exactly happens when CO₂ is stored. For this project, for example, I can study the extent to which the rocks in the seafloor change when CO₂ is introduced.

Climate change will have a much bigger impact on our future than most people realize. At some point, the changing environmental conditions will no longer allow us to continue living exactly as we have in the past. And the faster the change comes, the more difficult it will be for humanity to adapt to the changing conditions. To make sure that won’t be necessary, we need to do something now.

CCS is an interesting and perhaps even necessary approach to tackling the climate problem. However, I think it is important that before this idea is applied, it is carefully and impartially examined whether there are any dangers involved and whether the CO₂ really remains in storage and is not immediately released again. With my work I want to contribute to clarify these points. On the one hand, so that this technology is not used imprudently. But also, so that the possibilities of CCS are not given away, if science finds that it is feasible and harmless.

During this time, I have participated in more than 20 scientific offshore expeditions and successfully deployed hundreds of autonomous devices. As a graduate physicist, I have always been interested in the fundamental processes behind the visible effects. This is also the background against which the devices are developed at our company. When monitoring, we never only have the direct object of investigation in mind, but also always its cascading interactions with the environment. The underlying sensor technology is usually highly complex, but often more robust and sensitive than conventional measurement technology. In my opinion, monitoring plays a key role in all processes that interfere with natural processes.

I analyze under which legal conditions demonstration projects for sub-seabed storage of CO₂ can be carried out, and try to identify any need for reform at the levels of international, European and national law.

With my work, I would like to contribute to achieving legal certainty with regard to sub-seabed storage of CO₂. This is of practical importance because without the capture and permanent storage of greenhouse gases, it will be difficult to achieve the climate protection goals of the Paris Agreement.

In addition, the law must ensure that damage to the marine environment and marine ecosystems as well as conflicts with other uses of the sea are avoided. My hope is that with my research I can contribute to a sustainable use of the sea worthy of this name.

Coming from academia, I recently joined KUM and I will be dedicated to the GEOSTOR project.  My main tasks in the project will include the identification of an optimal set-up of seismic sensors for passive monitoring of the CO2 plume after injection into the sub-seafloor geological formations. I consider the sub-seafloor storage of CO2 captured from industrial facilities constitutes a prolific option to cut carbon emissions and I am looking forward to contributing in this process.

These investigations also form the basis for a later determination of the respective rock-physical parameters of the geological layers. Thus, these data are an important building block for the quantitative description of the subsurface. Currently, CO₂ storage in the area of the German North Sea appears to be a possible building block to reduce the future CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. However, in advance of such a use of the subsurface, associated risks – i.e. an unintentional escape of CO₂ from the subsurface – have to be carefully investigated.

Applying state-of-the-art geophysical exploration techniques to such practical issues is a particular challenge for me personally on the GEOSTOR project.

More precisely, in most of the projects I participated in the development of solutions for digital signal and image processing, improvement of existing algorithms to increase their computational power.

The GEOSTOR project will implement the construction of monitoring systems for CCS, which obviously requires new technologies to process huge amounts of data to get relevant information.

I look forward to working together to develop technologies that will make this world a little cleaner and better, so that our children can live in a clean and friendly environment.

Within the framework of GEOSTOR, I am involved in the preparation and execution of excursions into the North Sea, as well as in the analysis of the collected data. The investigations, are about understanding and risk assessment of potential CO₂ leakage along existing wells in the sediments above CO₂ storage formations. Here, I would like to investigate the mechanism and potential impact of leakage in more detail.

With my work in the GEOSTOR project, I hope to contribute to a safe storage of CO₂ in sandstone formations in the deep subsurface of the North Sea.